What I Like and Dislike for the Week of Sept. 19th, 2018

It’s that time again, where I tell you what’s really grinding my gears for the week of September 19th, 2018.
Some weeks it’s mostly likes, other weeks it’s dislikes.
So what’s grinding my gears?

Marvel Cancels The Vision Before Release
I was actually looking forward to another Vision series. This is also the second time they’ve canceled a title on Chelsea Cain.
You may or may not remember, but Chelsea Cain also worked on the Mockingbird series, which got canceled after 8 issues but they were told it was canceled on issue 3, allowing them to finish the story arc. Mockingbird was a great read, it’s too bad it ended early. I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t already done so.
Now they’re cancelling what was likely a great title before we even get to read it. This was a series that was even promoted during SDCC back in July.
Tom King’s run with The Vision was awesome and Chelsea Cain’s work was going to focus on Vision and his daughter Viv for the most part.Henry Cavill Hanging Up The Cape?
Apparently talks broke down in what they said were scheduling conflicts in regards to Superman making a cameo on the new Shazam! movie.
There’s also rumors this could result with him not doing future movies that Superman will appear in.
This makes me sad. Out of all the current main DC heroes in the DC movies, Cavill was my favorite Superman (besides Christopher Reeves though, we’ll forgive him for Superman IV). Honestly it was Cavill and Gadot were the only current characters that really nailed their roles I think.Return of Wolverine
I like Wolverine and I’m glad he’s back, I think. But then again, I’ve been kind of X-Men’d out for quite some time now.
What doesn’t make me happy is the amount of covers Marvel created just for his return. At $4.99 cover price and there’s what I think is 25 covers, I have better things to spend my money on.Spider-Geddon is nothing but Marvel’s Glorified What If
Maybe I’m in the minority but all these alternate Universes that contain all these different Spiderman characters is just another way of Marvel doing a “What If?” series without actually saying “What If?“.Spider-Geddon #3 is a big yawn for me. Uncle Ben is still alive after he’s mugged and shot, getting a blood transfusion from Peter that gives him Spider powers as well. Maybe it’s not so much that Uncle Ben should be dead but rather they actually have him in what looks like his work uniform with a spider mask pulled down halfway over his face. The whole blue collar straight out of a factory with a spider mask on his face is about as dumb as it gets for me.
The Cully Hamner B variant is already selling out online, Maybe some are hoping for these to take off with new characters. Buy and flip if the potential is there but it still doesn’t change the fact that I just don’t like these Spider-<Insert-New-Word_Here> arcs.

That’s it for this week.Don’t forget to check out the new LegosHeatingUp.com as well for all you LEGO lovers, I’ve been busy trying to add content. Tell us what you’re liking or disliking in the comments below.

That’s the problem though with some Marvel titles (and other publishers), it’s not the writing that’s the underlying problem on why a book doesn’t sell. Mockingbird I thought was great writing, it just didn’t get the love it deserved.
I also think Marvel has issues with books that don’t meet a certain demand. Why would they expect Mockingbird (a vritually unknown character to most people besides the die hard fans) to be a huge seller?

“Why would they expect Mockingbird (a vritually unknown character to most people besides the die hard fans) to be a huge seller?”
Good writing makes a good seller. Indie books do this all the time. God country went to how many reprints? No one was big on Donny before that. Mister Miracle wasnt a fan fav, but the new book has done well.

Well obviously but like I said, I liked Mockingbird and thought it was underrated. I don’t think Mockingbird failed due to poor writing (most of the reviews I recall of it were average or above average ratings). I think Marvel failed at executing it and promoting it for the most part. Now they cancelled a series before it even debuted, so we’ll likely never know if it was good or not.
I think some of the success that Mister Miracle saw was due to King’s work on success of The Vision. But I’ll admit Tom King is a far superior writer that already proved his worth well before Mister Miracle.

And in my opinion, Image reprints mean nothing to me about the writing success of a book. One of my local shops still has a really big stack (and when I say big stack, I’m talking a bunch) of God Country reprints they can’t move now.
Now don’t get me wrong, I liked God Country but I wouldn’t necessarily judge such reprints (for most of their books) as successful when it’s coming from Image. Those guys at Image seemed to reprint just about every book they put out there for a few months.

I heard that took them two years. So working off that schedule, one could reasonably think it would be another year for a total of six issues. My understanding was that this was a mini. Three years for a six issue mini? That’s a bit ridiculous. Even Frank Miller got his twelve issue DKIII mini done before two years didn’t he? I seriously don’t know but recall it having numerous delays and issues being pushed back more than once.
Cain might be a great writer, but if you can’t handle a monthly or bi-monthly schedule, working at one of the big two may not be in your best interest. I don’t know of it was her or the artist, but three years is a long time to wrap up a 6 issue mini.
Maybe she should have just written a graphic novel or straight to trade. Kinda the way old movies not fit for the big screen went straight to VHS.

Chelsea’s tweet about it said it was 2 years of work. But who’s to know how much of that was just planning and what not. Remember, Disney I’m sure has a whole lot of bureaucracy. If they run Marvel like they run ABC, well, my wife worked on an ABC show and it’s amazing they accomplish anything in that regards. 🙂

The two years is kinda an overstatement on Cain’s part from the rest of what she said. She signed the deal two years ago but work in earnest didn’t begin until about 6 months ago according to her. In that time, they produced three or four (I forget the exact number) issues I believe. One fully colored and the others were inked. She stated that she received nothing but positive feedback from Marvel. I tend to believe Marvel when they say it just wouldn’t mesh with the direction they intend to take Viv and Vision in the future. Still, it sucks for those looking forward to it (me included) and I understand why Cain would be upset when you add this to the fiasco of Marvel not giving her any information about her Eisner nomination for Mockingbird.

Haha. I read about that. Honestly I can care less about him quitting in the middle of the game. Way more important issues in life. If he feels he couldn’t help his team for the remainder of the game, season and rest of his career, if I was the coach I would have just asked him to leave.

I don’t necessarily agree with quitting the game in the fashion that he did, but, I do praise him for doing what he felt he needed to do. He was eloquent in his explanation. It is kinda tight, but in the grand scheme of things, its fairly minute.

And if he was unable to participate mentally and physically at the level that is expected from any given player, then his team mates will have been bettet off with out him on the field. He could of lied and said he was injured then retired after the game, but there is something to be said for the complete honesty he displayed.

What grinds my gears this week is people calling Avengers #7 first Ghostrider 1000000 BC. He first appears in the first lenticular of the lenticulars Marvel Legacy #1. Out of all the BC characters he has prob the fullest appearance in the Marvel Legacy Book. Avengers #7 don’t get me wrong was a great read and top notch origin, and the 1:50 Crain cover is great but calling it first appearance is a bit of a stretch.

yea midtown will only let you order 1 at a time, i had to do 2 orders. i think this has real chance at being a massive sleeper this week. issue 2 had 29k print run and 3 should be 1-2k less. besides the 2 auctions on ebay by the same seller there are no others listed. no store variants that im aware of. and i dont think most store order 25 copies of this book. besides charles X only has one other kid (legion) and that book is only low cost cause of the massive print run. new possible omega level mutant with small print run and an 1:25 incentive = speculators dream

All these first appearances suddenly in the past few months.. I bet there was a big Marvel meeting where they discussed how to boost overall sales and they concluded first appearances people cherish and will gobble up like no other.
I wasn’t there but I’m pretty sure that’s the direction they’ve decided because we’re now seeing it in play and like the nerds we all are, we spec on first appearances, driving up sales. 🙂

Maybe but won’t change the fact that everyone will still seek out ASM 300 with most demand. At most will only stir up the 1st appearance debate and tries to rewrite the standards for such things.. which I find utterly ridiculous. We already know what happens in issue 252, it’s not Venom since the symbiote attached to the suit and not a human. Writing a new story 30+ years later doesn’t change issue 252. That’s my two cents..

If the symbiote can move from person to person, then how can the symbiote itself not be venom? This was always my argument with the first appearance of venom….I have so many copies of each book, it doesn’t matter what the market says or chooses. I’m only stating for discussion purposes that venom is the symbiote which is why he can go from one host to another…..first appearance of the symbiote should be first appearance of venom.

eddie brock first appers in web of spiderman #18. annual plus venom equals money. venom mania is running wild .black costume spiderman apperances are doing well. books like specultar spiderman #90. marvel team up #141. marvel age #12 even beavis and butthead #3 don’t quote me on the issue number but there is a beavis and butthead comic with a venom carnage fight in it . doing hidden gems later .yes both books amazing #252&#300 are saught after have beenf or years. first venom is #300 I belive #299 should really be the first venom #299 is the hulk #180 for venom fans . even stuff like the marvel series 4 3-d trading card &the talking venom I will eat your brain figure are hot. #testify blind adam out

why the kids need to get off my lawn this week. people player hating on ironf ist season two. . it inproved by leaps and bounds from season one.alyce eve as mary walker was the highlight . I was disappointed that they changed the origin. I loved the fact mary walker was a prostitute. a positive represtion of a working girl and that int he comics is a good thing . we need a few prostitute super heroes #testify. yes I said it you think they call me the comicpimpf or nothing??? I also read the first tweleve issues of ht einmortal iron fist . wow holy crap. ed brubaker&matt fraction killed it and I love the seven heavans and the torament . and I hope we get more of that in season three. I also want more alyce eve as mary . I also am upset that macdonalds discountined the rick and morty macnugget sauce. they need to stop the family friendally b.s. and do a proper rick and morty promotion with collector glasses and happy meals . between that and the fans deamanding it we can make it happen. hey if every rick and morty fan donates a dollar to five dollars to the collest charity in the world the Ronald macdonald house for sick children then mr. Ronald macdonald will you give us the ricka nd morty fans the collctors glasses and happ y meals? it is a win win and we can punch that little punk the hambugler . the top five superman actors of all time are 1. George reeves .2 christpher reeves.3tom whelling 4. tim dally.5 henny calvel. honorable mention goes to the voice actor fromt he radio show the voice actor from j.l.u.& brandon ralph and last but not least how in the f&&& did batman beat the incredible hulk?? just read the crossover an I am upset . now all you kids get the hell off my lawn it is my football now #testify blind adam out

The Brubaker/Fraction run on immortal iron fist is one of my favorite reads. Covers and interior art were outstanding too (David Aja). ,And the spin-offs also good reads (green most of death, immortal weapons, 5 Ronin…some iron fist mash ups including wolverine and deadpool…now long before those get recognized?).

I’m with you on the Vision cancellation. I loved King’s run and I also loved Cain’s Mockingbird. I thought she nailed the voice of the character in a way nobody had done since WCA days. Apparently, the series wouldn’t mesh with current continuity. Still, it’s very disappointing.

The shipping method on Batman Damned sucked. We ordered 120 copies total. DC had advertised that they would be in shrinkwrapped bundles of 20 each “to protect them”. The reality is they strapped each bundle of 20 first with a plastic strap, then shrinkwrapped over the top of the strap. Then the bundles were put in a shipping case that was too big for them, allowing them to bang around inside the case. Not double-boxed like Diamond normally sends comics (with two Diamond boxes inside the one we affectionately call a “coffin”). Just a single bare box with 80 copies in these poorly wrapped bundles, banging around loose on a UPS truck.
Expect lots of the copies to have strap damage on the spine. Expect the top and bottom copy of every bundle to have bent corners from overly tight shrinkwrap. And expect entire bundles to get the blunt trauma treatment when UPS drops the box.
All in all, I would expect that shops who only ordered 5-10 copies (ie less than a bundle) will wind up with better condition books than the shops who ordered in bundle quantities. It’s a great book. But poorly delivered. 🙁

My dislike is that my area needs more comic shops in proximity..Im pretty much stuck to online ordering and by the time you factor in shipping and the time some stuff takes to arrive, it’s harder to profit from quick spec..still I enjoy the game for what it is..having something rise in value a year or two later isn’t bad either! 🙂

So one thing I’ve done myself is for ongoing reading titles, I will pre-order from Midtown and select monthly shipping. You save 35% off cover price on most titles and just one monthly shipment when the books come in saves you shipping costs.
I’ve probably saved thousands over the past few years doing this.